Since there seems to be a Bronze Age theme going on in myArmoury, here's an article about a recent dig in Germany. I found the description of Bronze Age clubs, shaped like a baseball bat and a mallet, to be particularly intriguing, especially the photo of the latter:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-13469861

Craig, that is really cool. I have only ever been able to find pictures of a couple of Bronze Age clubs, so that is really neat to see. Nobody ever seems to be doing much at the Bronze Age Center, so I just bring all my questions here, with astounding results. You can expect more Bronze Age questions from me in the near future.

Very nice find!

As an ex-archaeologist I must strongly disagree with the theory that the bodies were dumped in the river and deposited on a sandbar. The probability of weapons and bodies being deposited in one site and staying in that one site is not even measureable. Most likely if dumped in a river the weapons and bones would have over time been deposited over 20 miles of the river.

Ran Pleasant
ARMA DFW

My opinion, which is only mine based upon what I read in the article, is that it was probably a running battle. Some of the remains were probably from combatants killed in the river or on its edge. Others might have been washed down river from another site of the battle. Notice no iron weapon or armor remains were mentioned. That leads me to believe that the bodies were looted after battle and the wooden weapons, which the victors probably didn't find valuable enough to loot, were left in place.

Just a wild guess, but from what I've read of other battles it seems plausible. Anyway, we probably will never know exactly what happened. Great find though.

Here are some more pics
Discovery Bronze Age Battle

Best
Craig